I'm not sure who would start. Probably Bargnani who is younger, but it wouldn't really matter too much i think.It all depends on how Pau play with Nash. If Pau play well with Nash we may be able to sign Calderon as FA this summer using the vets minimum and keep Pau. Duhon and Morris can be adequete as back-ups this season.

Well yea a trade wont happen till nash starts paying for a few weeks but I am seriously doubting nash will help pau much. Pau is failing on defense and effort. Not much a pg can do there. I dont think he as trouble getting open rather he just being so soft that he either gets blocked going to the rim or taking a outside shot that he is no longer capable of constantly hitting.

The Los Angeles Lakers, largely at the behest of general manager Mitch Kupchak, have rebuffed trade inquiries from at least two teams for Pau Gasol, according to sources with knowledge of the Lakers' thinking.

The Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves have both recently tried to engage the Lakers in trade discussions for Gasol, sources told ESPN.com, but the Lakers continue to tell teams that call that they will not consider dealing the Spaniard until L.A. can fully assess its roster after the return of injured point guard Steve Nash.

Trade speculation involving Gasol nonetheless shows little sign of abating, even as the 32-year-old is being held out of the lineup to combat a worsening bout with knee tendinitis. That's likely because, as part of an ESPNLosAngeles.com story Tuesday that Gasol has not been shelved because a deal is imminent, ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin also reported, according to sources, that Kupchak has advised Gasol's representatives the Lakers will have no choice but to start exploring possible trade scenarios if the former All-Star is unable to eventually adjust to D'Antoni's system.

Sources said Wednesday that, along with the strong support that Gasol continues to get publicly and behind Lakers doors from star guard Kobe Bryant, Kupchak has been adamant that L.A. should wait until Nash's return before making any further judgments about how the team's parts mesh. D'Antoni took the job Nov. 11, knowing he wouldn't have the benefit of training camp, when the Lakers made the third-fastest coaching change in NBA history by firing Mike Brown five games into the season.

Great thing about mitch is if he see's a trade worth it he will do it. He's willing to do some abrasive moves which other teams arent willing to do(replace MB in 5 games). So I think if we see pau stay at his level with nash and other teams are legitly in talks with us you will see a trade.

We've traded him before I doubt mitch has any problem trying agian. lol

Great thing about mitch is if he see's a trade worth it he will do it. He's willing to do some abrasive moves which other teams arent willing to do(replace MB in 5 games). So I think if we see pau stay at his level with nash and other teams are legitly in talks with us you will see a trade.

We've traded him before I doubt mitch has any problem trying agian. lol

With the new luxury tax and with Paus salary next season, i think they might trade him regardless of how he plays with Nash - unless of course he really gets revived or morphs into '07-Dirk. They will wait for Nash to return, but there are a lot of FAs who wont be trade eligible until mid december anyways.

True, but offensivelyCalderon >>>>> Duhon, Blake, MorrisBargnani >>>>> GasolAnd defensively, according to 82games it is more like:Gasol = BargnaniMorris >>>> Calderon = Duhon >>>>>> BlakeLooking at salary, it's a no-contest. Next season LA could amnesty Blake, sign Calderon to vets minimum and still save 25-30 million.

We are hovering around top ten in the league back on offense, and 6th in PPG, without Steve Nash on our roster. I'm not too worried about our offense right now (well...adding a player like Calderon to it, a little different if we can get a bench scorer), I'm worried about how much more heavy lifting Howard will have to do to make up for guys like the Toronto duo back on defense.

The less defense Howard has to play for others, the longer he stays in the game, and the more effective we can be on both offense AND defense.

As far as 82games goes when it comes to Gasol and Bargs...well, Bargnani is allowing 49% FG to Gasol's 43%, and of course, the numbers are going to be skewed (because Gasol relies heavily on Howard's help, much like our PG's do), but at least Gasol will contest shots. Bargnani doesn't take contact OR contest, for the most part, and Toronto fans hate his guts right now.

Really think Bargnani is that much worse on defense. I feel like if pau was in his spot he would be averaging less that 40% and playing just as bad D when theres no dwight helping.

Possibly so, and maybe Bargnani takes advantage of playing with two superstars...but something tells me he won't, and what else does Bargnani have to fall back on? He's a horrible rebounder, he can't defend, and he's a bad passer. When he's not knocking down shots, he's worse than Antawn Jamison...we can at least rely on Jamison to grab boards.

Bargnani is actually a good one-on-one defender.

You're the first person I've ever read that from. Bargnani is lucky to have guys like Ed Davis, and Amir Johnson, taking care of his man when he has no shot at defending him...especially Davis, who should be the Toronto starting PF right now (and for most Raptors fans, that isn't even up for debate...doesn't help that Bargnani has been garbage this season on both sides of the ball).

Possibly so, and maybe Bargnani takes advantage of playing with two superstars...but something tells me he won't, and what else does Bargnani have to fall back on? He's a horrible rebounder, he can't defend, and he's a bad passer. When he's not knocking down shots, he's worse than Antawn Jamison...we can at least rely on Jamison to grab boards.

A lot of good points. And you were saying somthing I kinda said earlier where it may work but it could be a horrible disaster.

I see this trade as the best thing for pau right now. Not sure how legit the whole timberwolves thing was being that it would have to be somthing like this http://espn.go.com/n...tradeId=bhpb63k and that just seems so unlikely they would give up that much for pau just to have him play with rubio.

A lot of good points. And you were saying somthing I kinda said earlier where it may work but it could be a horrible disaster.

I see this trade as the best thing for pau right now. Not sure how legit the whole timberwolves thing was being that it would have to be somthing like this http://espn.go.com/n...tradeId=bhpb63k and that just seems so unlikely they would give up that much for pau just to have him play with rubio.

thats the worst trade ever,ever,ever for this team. Williams sucks, let me know when hes at least as good as michael frickin beasley/pekovic would play 13 minutes a game here, he cant stretch the floor,no use of him with nash and dwight. if we traded pau to minny i would seriously consider sending hate mail to mitch kupcheck. i want to trade pau for a bench ,too, but 3/4 of those players in that package are scrubs, pek is good,not close to being a scrub.

A lot of good points. And you were saying somthing I kinda said earlier where it may work but it could be a horrible disaster.

I see this trade as the best thing for pau right now. Not sure how legit the whole timberwolves thing was being that it would have to be somthing like this http://espn.go.com/n...tradeId=bhpb63k and that just seems so unlikely they would give up that much for pau just to have him play with rubio.

Chances are is Minnesota just called and simply asked "is Pau available?" I doubt that any terms were actually discussed. If there were I'm sure Mitch asked for Love or something ridiculous to gauge interest. I know its not happening but you never know with Mitch.